Flatbed trucks are vehicles with a flat bed or platform for hauling tools, equipment, supplies, and the like. Flatbed trucks generally have a forward passenger compartment or cab that resembles a pickup truck. However, whereas a pickup truck has rear body panels, side walls, and a tailgate to define the cargo bed, flatbed trucks have only a platform extending rearward from the cab of the vehicle.
Flatbed trucks are typically used as commercial work trucks because the rear platform of the truck provides space for hauling oversize equipment and supplies. The rear platform may also be customized by the owner with various storage boxes, platform bodies, or racks to suit the owner's needs. These storage boxes and racks provide lockable compartments in which to store equipment and supplies.
Typically, storage boxes are affixed to either a forward portion of the platform against the vehicle cab, underneath the platform on either side of the vehicle frame, or along the sides of the platform. While these systems provide lockable storage space for the flatbed truck, they often greatly reduce the available surface area of the flatbed truck's platform. Consequently, the flatbed truck suffers a loss in overall utility as owners must choose between lockable storage compartments and a full size platform. For example, if an owner needed the full platform space to haul large items, they would be unable to affix storage boxes onto the surface of the platform.
Typical storage boxes also do not provide lockable storage for oversize items. Owners of flatbed trucks typically haul large items such as lumber, pipe, shovels, or other long items that require the full length of the rear platform. As such, typical storage boxes that extend along only a portion of the platform are unable to accommodate these large items. Owners must therefore haul the items on the platform itself or on racks along the side of the platform. In either event, the oversized items are placed in the open where they are more susceptible to damage and/or theft.
As owners typically store valuable items including tools, equipment, and expensive materials in lockable storage boxes, the boxes are prone to theft. A flatbed truck having a plurality of custom storage boxes affixed to the platform may be targeted by thieves based upon the visibility of the storage boxes and the likelihood that the owner has valuable items inside the boxes.
For the reasons stated above, it would therefore be beneficial to provide owners of flatbed trucks with a storage system that features both lockable storage compartments and a full size platform. It would further be beneficial for the storage system to be durable and able to accommodate equipment of varying sizes and lengths. Finally, the storage system should be easily accessible by the owner while providing lockable storage that is inconspicuous and may serve as a theft deterrent.